Problem, infill is not solid, just thin walls inside

[Person1231211 0]

I’m using the ultimaker cura with an ender 5 pro and I’m having this consistent issue with my print which keeps doing this as seen in the picture. I don’t know why it is doing it. When I use creality, it prints it better but I am using cura because I believe it is better and will give me a better quality print, though I can’t overcome this problem without wasting lots of filament. I have checked my extruded and everything, it is none of that. It is something to do with the software and I am unsure what it is. I am a beginner also.

[GregValiant 1,415]

When the filament gets dragged across the center of a circle like that it's because the current layer isn't sticking to the layer below.  If it's the Initial Layer then it isn't sticking to the bed.

 

Under the File menu in Cura there is a command "Save Project".  Save your project and post the 3mf file here.  Somebody will take a look.

Have you calibrated the Esteps on the printer?  I ask because of the gaps between the loops that did stick.  That's usually under-extrusion.

[Person1231211 0]

File here. cheers.

CE5_RINGS111.3mf

[GregValiant 1,415]

Those are fairly small parts with small cross-sections.  Using the .8 nozzle on them is like using a sledge hammer to pound in finish nails.  At a print speed of 80, and a layer height of .32, your hot end has to deliver over 20mm³ of molten plastic per second.  If that's a stock hot end, or a drop-in replacement all-metal hot end, it's no wonder it's under-extruding.  The Ender's (I have a 3 Pro) were designed for flows of around 4.0mm³/sec.

 

The .8 nozzle is fine for blasting through prints but for those particular parts I think you want to switch back to the .4 nozzle.  The print time for the .4 @ 50mm/sec is 13 minutes.  We've spent more time that that talking about it.

[Person1231211 0]

You seem to know your stuff. is there a formula for printing at size or a recommended table? 

I'll try the settings on .4 and 50mm/s and keep you updated

[Person1231211 0]

On Cura, what should I edit to make sure the nozzle is at .4?  (I found it nvm)

Edited April 21, 2021 by Person1231211

[GregValiant 1,415]

Did you physically change the nozzle?

 

It depends on the version of Cura.  It's with the current material you have selected.  There is a drop down button next to the material/nozzle box.  Clicking it will show the nozzle options.

[GregValiant 1,415]

It's kinda like working on a car or motorcycle.  You learn what tool you need to grab out of the box to do the job at hand.  The more experience you have with the different jobs (prints in our case), the more you know that "Well, the open end wrench won't work there so I'll need the ratchet and a long extension and a socket." which might equate to "I'm going to print this with PETG so I'll need some hairspray."

 

In 3d printing there are just more things to think about.  There is lots of troubleshooting involved.  Knowing the hardware, the software, and gcode makes it easier to nail down what the heck is going on.

Edited April 21, 2021 by GregValiant

[Person1231211 0]

That's very true in your point and I'm seeing your view on your description. The current test results are improved compared to the previous setting but they're not quite there. What would you recommend I change the settings to? I'm still a learner of 3D printing.

I also have a curious question, with the current print settings I had before, would they be fine for printing bigger items? but what if I used a small setting instead (lets say perfected this tiny piece) on a big piece? Would there be a problem? would it be even sharper of a print? 

[GregValiant 1,415]

#1.  Have you calibrated the E-steps/mm on your printer?  You are showing under-extrusion.

#2.  Did you flip those parts over so the little slots are up?  They need to be down or the outside edge will be printing over air and need support.  There isn't any reason to go with support on those.

 

When you print big stuff and don't care so much about finish then a large nozzle and tall layer heights can make a huge difference in print time.  If your print (think mini's or those rings) has fine detail, then you will want to go with a smaller nozzle and lower layer height.

 

I can print at 175mm/sec with a .4 nozzle.  I can actually push 200 if I lower the Accel and Jerk but the hot end has trouble keeping up.  Those numbers work for very specific models that have a lot of flat areas to cover.  They are WAY too fast for normal things that have some detail.  Silky PLA prints OK at 50-60mm/sec but setting the outer wall speed to 35mm/sec gives a great exterior finish (silver looks almost like chrome).

 

Here is a Gcode file with your rings with a .4 nozzle and your printer.  This would print fine on my Ender.

CE5_RINGS111.gcode

[Person1231211 0]

I downloaded it, it worked better compared to the rest. it still occured though. Iv switched the filament as the previous filament was the starter filament but I can't get it to stick anymore to the bed on the settings you provided, so I will be checking again to see if it's any better now on default. Seems to have also given me a better quality result too. 

[GregValiant 1,415]

I've asked twice and you haven't answered...  Have you calibrated the E-steps/mm on your printer?  You are showing under-extrusion.  That will make it difficult to stick to the bed, and difficult to get a decent part.

 

[Person1231211 0]

I thought I did at first but I believe I'm now over extruding. I fixed the bed level to make sure it was not touching the surface too much which solved a part of it, and then I've seen this guide: 

 Which explains what I had to do to make it calibrate properly if that's right. 

Although doing it, It turns my E-steps at 93 was only extruding 64 mm which I still find strange as running the formula 9300/(100/64) = equals 258.3 E steps (which got recalculated to 269 E steps later on) seemed to properly extrude 100mm. If that is what you mean by recalibrating then I have just done that. but not looking for a lower flow rate and concerned why the E step number seems so dramatically high compared to other people's calculations. 

[Person1231211 0]

I say over-extruding because the cube I printed seems a bit overly-done everywhere (Like too much has been extruded, which I think I need to change the flow rate). If this method is right of course for what I'm doing.

[GregValiant 1,415]

Don't change the flow rate in Cura.  The ideal is to have good parts and a nice finish with a flow rate in the slicer of 100%.  That means dialing in your E-Steps some more.

While you are printing something - use the LCD and go to the Tune menu.  At the bottom is "Flow".  Adjust it until you like what you see on the model.  Once you get an acceptable finish, the next formula will be:  NewESteps = CurrentESteps * Flow% /100.  So say you ended up liking your print at 75% flow then it would be .75 * 269 = 201.

 

There are a couple things you can check before we get into the "bad news".

Use the LCD and go to Control | Filament and make sure "E = mm³" is turned OFF.

Go into Cura and select your printer and then Manage Printers and Machine Settings.  On the tab for Extruder 1 make sure the filament is set to 1.75.

 

Now the bad news.  After listening to my Ender whine for a month I ordered the silent 1.1.5 board from Creality.  It showed up and I installed it no problem.

4 days later I noticed severe under-extrusion.  I kept calibrating the E-steps and ended up around 300.  But the thing kept fluctuating all over the place.  It turned out that the E driver chip on the mainboard had failed.  It took over a month to get them to cough up a replacement.  It's been running fine for a year since that happened.  Your 269 isn't that far from my 300 and is well over the standard 93.  269 would seem to indicate a problem with the chip on the board.  Is that the motherboard that came with the printer?

[Person1231211 0]

yeah it is. Knowing that is concerning. I'm using the Ender 5 pro so it comes with the silent chip motherboard and if that's the case then it's not good. But I do believe I have over 1 year warranty incase that is to be the problem. So far my prints are looking much better than before, and I managed to print those small rings at a good quality (Just need to sand the lines off the surface). I have that at a flow rate of 80 with the current E-step. I hope it doesnt fall into the same problem as yours also. And I did notice when I very first used the printer, it extruded fine I believe when printing my first piece but then printing over things, it was under-extruding which led me to calibrating everything like right now. 

[GregValiant 1,415]

On the Ender 3 and Pro, the stock mainboard fan is wired oddly.  The mainboard fan only runs if the layer cooling blower is on.  It is fixed speed and the cooling blower is variable speed, but that's how it's wired up.  I was printing a lot of PETG and not using the layer cooling blower so I think the mainboard may have overheated because the fan wasn't running (and I didn't know about the wiring setup).  The fix was to cut the plug off the mainboard fan and wire it with the hot end fan because the hot end fan runs all the time.

[Person1231211 0]

Hmmm, That's not a good thing but it sounds like if I had super cooling on it might help it. That's not a good design of them, I only just got this like 5 days ago so I hope I dont fall into the same boat. Is it cool if we keep in touch? I would like to learn off you more and maybe help each other out in the future 

[GregValiant 1,415]

I'm here.  I spend some time on Reddit as well.  You can send a PM on Reddit or add "@GregValiant" to a post here and I'll get an email.

 

Always remember that one of the reasons we bought these was they are inexpensive and that's another word for cheap.  I do get excellent prints out of mine and It's pretty quiet now.  I was looking to buy another printer but with the things that Creality has been doing with firmware and mainboards I think I'll look around some more.

[Person1231211 0]

Will do and cheers! I'll message you on reddit. I recently posted a problem on there as my X motor lowered and ruined my print